Sulfur is present in crudes in a wide range of both aliphatic and aromatic compound types. Moving crudes which contain high levels of sulfur through pipelines which are dedicated to crudes containing low levels of sulfur is not permitted and crudes that do not qualify as low sulfur crudes will have to be transported separately, a costly proposition.
Although various methods for desulfurization are known, their application is most practical in refineries and not in oil production sites because of the sophisticated equipment and materials required. For example, the process equipment utilized in catalytic hydrotreating, which removes sulfur, is costly and requires careful operation and maintenance which would be difficult and economically impractical to implement on the site of crude production. Additionally, these processes require hydrogen production which relates to still more costly process equipment. Since crude production facilities are often located in remote areas which, although equipped with certain crude treating equipment such as separators and precipitators, lack the sophisticated refinery operations, equipment and technology necessary to implement hydrotreating units.
It would be economically advantageous to reduce the sulfur content of the crude, prior to transport through the pipeline system to distant locations dedicated to the transportation of low sulfur containing crudes to reduce the costs associated with separate crude transport pipelines.